ITAHARI: The bandh called by different organisations affiliated to Indigenous Nationalities Federation (INF) today partially affected normal lives in three eastern districts.

Eleven different organisations affiliated to the INF called the bandh protesting what they described as "police high-handedness" in their recent demonstration against the killing of a prisoner, Arjun Tamang, at Jhumka based regional jail in Sunsari.

Prisoner Tamang was killed when a group led by chaukidar Dev Kumar Meheta beat him in the jail on September 14.

The bandh had partial impact in different places including Itahari and Dharan in Sunsari, Pathari and Urlabari in Morang, Damak, Dhulabari and Birtamod in Jhapa districts.

The demonstrators halted traffic in Itahari for three hours. However, police cleared the road forcefully.

The demonstrators also obstructed traffic in market areas of Itahari, briefly.

However, the bandh was more successful in Dharan,Pathari and Urlabari in Morang district, where traffic came to a grinding halt for several hours.

A partial effect of the bandh was also felt in Damak, Dhulabari and Birtamod in Jhapa.

The agitators have been staging agitation with various demands including action against the guilty, developing the jail as rehabilitation centre and providing Rs 2.5 million as compensation to the next of the victim's kin since Wednesday.

They also attempted padlocking Sunsari DAO in Inaruwa on Wednesday. But the police charged batons, leaving 22 demonstrators injured. "CDO Hari Krishna Upadhyay had assured of holding a talk on the same day, however, he did not meet us. Even assistant CDO Harihar Dahal fled away," Padam Adhikari, general secretary of Sanghiya Limbuwan Rajyaparisad said, adding, "We'll announce further protests after a discussion with our member organisations, soon."